Senior Vice President for U.S. Media Relations 

The following is a position description for a new Senior Vice President position at Burness. This position is being developed to give Burness further strategic and seasoned media relations experience and to build more diversity at the senior level of the firm.

It’s important to note that there are common attributes that all Burness employees should possess. These include being a strong writer and verbal communicator; focusing as much on tactical “deliverables” as strategic counsel; being able to juggle multiple projects; being efficient and meeting deadlines; providing expert service to our clients; humility; and consistent empathy and support for colleagues.

Senior Vice President for U.S. Media Relations 

This Senior Vice President is an exceptionally talented professional – with deep experience in and commitment to social change and equity, comfort with being a social justice advocate in a private sector organization, and a proven understanding of our field. This person shapes the firm’s strategic approach to media relations, bringing to this role years of close work with media (online, print and broadcast); a strong list of journalist contacts and relationships; and the ability to develop, share, implement and mentor staff on media relations best practices across the firm and its projects. 

Key Responsibilities

• Independently, proactively, persuasively, and confidently make strategic recommendations directly to clients, as well as provide on-the-spot counsel and ideas
• Lead media strategy for select client accounts and develop, review, and strengthen media strategies that drive coverage for other accounts.
• Building on extensive relationships already established, grow relationships with key members of the press, media outlets, and social platforms in the United States 
• Write and edit content for a variety of platforms, including speeches, press releases, Q&A, key messages, op-eds, and blog and social media posts.
• Develop and execute executive positioning strategies for executives and leaders.
• Evaluate the impact of the firm’s media relations work and keep Burness staff on the cutting edge of the ever-changing media landscape. 
• Serve as a key partner for business development in the media relations space.
• Use their strong storytelling skills to help staff create and pitch feature stories that will appeal to media and their audiences.
• Assist project leads with development of strong messages and stories that will appeal to media.

Requirements

15-20-plus years of U.S. media relations experience in the nonprofit, government, academic, social responsibility and/or philanthropic sectors

Exceptional written, oral, and interpersonal skills

Excellent project management and mentoring skills

Deep and personal relationships with print, online and broadcast journalists

Passion for pitching media and proactively developing stories.

Deep commitment to racial and health equity

Extensive portfolio of media placements

2 journalist recommendations